Wish Upon a Star
by Rose of the West
Summary: Larry looks for something superlative to top the family Christmas tree.


_Disclaimer: The characters here and the world they inhabit are the creation and property of JK Rowling and her assigns. The character of Larry Lupin was created by Headless Huntsman. Aconite was created by Headless Huntsman and Snarky64._

The stars looked over the grounds of Hogwarts on Christmas Eve, where all was calm and bright. The lights of the castle twinkled merrily, and forest and grounds were under a blanket of snow. The stars rested easy, knowing that…

Hold on, what was that by the bank of the lake?

The Aconite nebula looked down at a shape that looked lumpy and-well-dejected, if shapes can have moods. And this shape was very particular. Nebulae aren't known for sighing, but this one had a particular history, which was going to have a new chapter tonight, it appeared. The Aconite nebula sighed, and made a short trip.

"Father? Why are you out here tonight?"

There was only one voice like that, timeless and resonant, like thousands of bells ringing all at once. It was completely different from the other voice, that tended to sound like it was growling even when cheerful. Tonight it growled in earnest.

"It's been a hard day, and a very long one."

"Let's go to the Three Broomsticks."

Larry didn't say anything, but followed Aconite into town.

Once in the bar, Aconite sat down at a table and nudged a tentacle. "What happened?"

"Harry Effing Potter, George Effing Weasley, and Charlie Effing Weasley are ruining my life."

"I didn't recall them all having the same middle name."

A tentacle reached out and cuffed the back of Aconite's head. "It's still all their fault."

"What did they do?"

"It's Christmas."

"Yes, I know. Phoebe has made your home quite beautiful. I've looked in."

"We don't have that one special thing, though."

"That one special thing?"

"Yes, we need that thing that will set our house apart from any other. It's the baby's first Christmas, you know."

Aconite smiled. "How is he?"

"He's perfect, trying to walk and starting to take notice, which is why we want this Christmas to be magical."

Aconite nodded. That sort of wish was natural for new parents. "What is the problem?"

"I'll start with Harry Effing Potter."

"He's your brother, and he would never hurt you."

"Are you going to let me tell my story?"

"Certainly, Father."

Larry glared sideways at Aconite. The way his voice resonated had a tendency to make everything sound like laughter. This wasn't funny, and somehow he had to make Aconite understand. He recalled the way he had wrestled the Christmas tree, full of branches that seemed to escape his grasp at every movement, into his house and thrown it into the corner. The poor thing had seemed to huddle there, limp and lifeless. At this point, there was nothing left to do but cry into his beer and describe the problem to someone who was literally above it.

"We were decorating our Christmas tree, and I was hoping to find something special to put at the top."

"That's nat-" Aconite saw the look in his father's eye and was silent.

"Harry Effing Potter has a special snitch from a World Cup Quidditch match that's charmed to flutter and glow over the top of his tree."

"Sounds lovely."

"You're NOT helping."

"Sorry."

"Charlie Effing Weasley has some sort of Frost Dragon hairball that glows with a cold light at the top of his tree with Luna."

"That's perfect for her."

"Don't remind me."

"What could George Weasley have that's so wonderful?"

"You know his wife was a showgirl in Las Vegas for a while."

"Oh, yes."

It was Larry's turn to look at Aconite with some amusement. "Oh, yes?"

If a star can blush, Aconite did at that point. "Well, she was very obviously an attractive woman back in those days, and even at my age, it left an impression..."

"Yes, and after a few years of Audrey wearing her Vegas headdress at family gatherings, because George loved the way it irritated his mother, he had a sort of star made out of it for the top of their Christmas tree. When Molly spends too much time at their house, he's got it charmed to play a bump and grind rhythm, right there from the tree."

"I see, except that I don't. What do their trees have to do with yours?"

"We need something at least as good as that for our tree." Larry thought of the way the tree looked when he finally got it stood up in the tree stand and shuddered. Nothing would make it look good, anyway.

"But those things have to do with Harry, and George, and Charlie. It's nothing to do with our family."

"I thought to get a glowing starfish to put on our tree."

"Very appropriate, given your life, and pertinent to the event."

"Exactly. So off I went, to a part of the China Sea that's known for having a particularly beautiful starfish."

"You didn't find one."

"No, I found dozens of them. I quickly discovered that unless they're in salt water, they don't glow. I don't have a way to keep them at the top of a tree. "

Aconite looked truly sad, now. "That does seem to be a problem."

"So I went into a dimension where the ocean creatures live in air. The first thing that happened, when I materialized, is that I was attacked by a demon sand shark." Larry stretched his shoulder and winced.

"You must have beat it."

"Oh, yes, and it had quite a treasure of gems in its belly." Larry tossed a ruby brooch on the table.

"A gift for Phoebe?"

Larry shrugged and sighed. "Yes, that's her special Christmas present sorted, but still nothing for the tree. I found the starfish there, but they don't glow in the water or out of it."

"There must be other places you can look."

"I said it's been a long day. I've been in three other dimensions, and I've looked in two oceans and six seas in this one."

"It's a good thing you can time travel."

"Yes, I'm late, but at least I'll be home tonight. What day is it again?"

Aconite smiled. "Nine days before Christmas."

Larry sighed in relief. "Still the same day, then." They'd had a terrible row, early on, about the fact that if he was going to go to other worlds, he should at least make the effort to come home on the same day. If he was immortal and she wasn't, he should try to have as much of her time with her as possible.

Aconite smiled. "Perhaps you should go home, anyway. You never know what my stepmother has been able to do."

"I told her not to do too much." There'd been another row about Larry's tendency to keep Phoebe from doing anything that was even slightly arduous or dangerous. Her mortality hung over them both, but he feared it troubled him more than her. Someday she would leave him forever and go on, but he would be forced to live forever after that without her.

"I'm sure she did exactly as you said," answered Aconite with a bit of an eyeroll. This time Larry was sure his son was laughing at him.

"Time to face the music, I suppose," said Larry.

Aconite followed Larry home. The first thing that greeted them in the house was the sound of Christmas songs on the wireless. Phoebe was humming along, from the sound of it in the room with the tree.

The sight that greeted Larry was very different than the one he had left. Instead of a tree that looked scrawny and bedraggled, this was full and vibrant. It seemed that every branch was filled with ornaments, lights, or some sort of garland. The decorations resulted in a tree that called to mind exactly what Larry wanted Christmas to be like for his new son.

"It's beautiful," whispered Aconite, and this time his voice resonated with joy.

Larry looked at his wife, and imagined the brooch pinned at the collar of a jumper he particularly liked Phoebe to wear. Then he looked at the tree. "She's done an amazing job, although I wish she hadn't done it."

Phoebe saw them and walked to the doorway. "It's a wonderful little tree. It just needed some love, Larry. You see that now, I'm sure."

She reached for his hand and swung it a little to get him to agree. "Of course," he agreed, because it was true. "You've worked all sorts of magic upon it." He couldn't resist leaning down and kissing her, which seemed to delight Aconite.

Larry looked at the top of the tree, which was decorated, almost to the very top branch, but was bare of that special something. He sighed.

Aconite jumped a little. "Oh, that reminds me." He did a sort of wriggle, and something seemed to move under his clothing, which might be better described as rainment. Something landed on his foot, and he kicked such that its trajectory placed it at the top of the tree. "It's just a little something from me to the two of you. Happy Christmas, Father!"

Phoebe looked up. "Oh, a real star! It's lovely, Aconite!"

Larry looked at it. "It's magnificent. Thank you."

Phoebe reached up to adjust the star's position slightly, and it was just the right sort of light for her husband to notice something about her profile. "Phoebe, is there something..." He stopped. Perhaps this wasn't the sort of thing a husband should ask about.

"What is it?"

He stood close and slid his hand over her tummy. "Just a trick of the light, I think. You just seemed… different… right here."

Phoebe blushed and glanced at Aconite. "I've been waiting for a moment to tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Well, you know that thing that Harry and Tonks explained how to do, and how we tried it over the phone a few weeks back?"

"Ah… yes…" It was Larry's turn to blush.

"Well… we seem to have had the same thing happen that Harry and Tonks did."

Aconite whistled and then murmured, with all the bells in his voice ringing quietly, "A soul-bond baby."

Larry took a step back and looked at his wife. "Baaaaaaammmmm…"

_Author's note: The character of Larry was created by Headless Huntsman and the authoritative stories about Larry are found at that profile. _


End file.
